It's not just the media. Most western countries have entire opposition political parties. And regular citizens bad mouth their leaders all the time with no fear

It's not just the media. Most western countries have entire opposition political parties. And regular citizens bad mouth their leaders all the time with no fear of repercussions. I directly hassle the leaders of my country on their official twitter accounts. There could be a small chance that not being moral absolutists on this issue could be a slippery slope, but it's still not the same.